


take the dive

by luvchoerrymagic



Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Fluff, High School AU, Highschool AU, Swimmer AU, lipsoul, loona the world, swimteam au, wlw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-03
Updated: 2019-03-03
Packaged: 2019-11-08 19:41:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17987402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luvchoerrymagic/pseuds/luvchoerrymagic
Summary: After insistence from her principal, the stresses of Jung Jinsol's last year at school have been adorned with a pretty cherry on top - an extra-curricular activity. Swimming was never high on the list of things Jinsol thought she'd like to try out in high-school, and that's mainly because she was never even taught how to swim. It doesn't help that the captain, Kim Jungeun, is just the right balance of flirtatious and stand-offish to confuse Jinsol in ways she's never felt before. But the swim team opens up a world of opportunities Jinsol never thought would be possible for her - for the first time, she can see from behind the throbbing, grey clouds that are her parents' ideas for her mundane future at the top university in Korea.For the first time, she's seeing things for herself.





	take the dive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinsol has to take up an extra-curricular activity. She decides she'd rather spend the rest of her life reliving her worst experience over and over again than have to join the swimming team.
> 
> She doesn't mean that, or else she wouldn't have decided to try out.

"But, Mr. Seo, don't you think that's a bit unfair!"

Jinsol folds her arms on the desk before her, lips set in a line much firmer than that of the dented, blemished ancient mahogany wood beneath her skin. There's a certain tension in the room, even despite the steady, unwavering tone Jinsol flawlessly maintains and the steely stare of her eyes. It coils and constricts around both her and the clearly unimpressed teacher in a way that sucks the breath right out of her. Mr. Seo, however, appears unbothered. His pudgy fingers graze across paper that Jinsoul tries so discreetly to peer at, while his sunken eyes scrutinise from behind old glasses that are halfway down his nose. A hum of satisfaction (or at least what Jinsol desperately hopes is satisfaction) releases from his lips like a restricted breath of air and the file is swiftly placed back into a neat cabinet before Jinsoul can even chance another glance.

"While I have to agree that you are an extremely hard-working and gifted student, Miss. Jung, it is clear to see that your ventures stop abruptly at the arts and academics-" he stops to adjust his glasses and Jinsoul takes the pause as an opportunity for interjection, lips forming around words that the professor quickly forces back down her throat with a dismissive wave- "Not once have you tested the athletic waters, which is the key to getting that scholarship. And you really want that scholarship, right?"

A wry, condescending grin stretches taut across his fat face that Jinsol would give anything to snatch off. Nonetheless, she feigns a strained grin and a tentative laugh, nodding.

"Of course I do, Mr. Seo. But I am in no way athletic, and the school I want to attend is based around academics anyway. Pursuing atheltics could leave me less time for my..." she leans back, sinking into the uneven, lumpy material of the chair. She makes a convincing show of narrowing her eyes, tilting her head and pulling the perfect thinking expression.

Artfully, she smiles, _"Priorities_."

Beneath the deceptively ingenuous look she wears (slightly raised eyebrows, wide and blinking eyes, lips tugged by a small quirk), she searches desperately for Mr. Seo's reaction. He momentarily seems to consider it in his head, with his hands folded across his chest and his legs crossed over one another. Jinsol takes note of the way he sucks lightly on his lip and how his gaze shifts to the ceiling. But his pondering soon reveals itself to be fleeting, as he returns to his position hunched over on his desk and his face scrunches into an inscrutable expression.

"It's settled," he says, his exasperation evident in the sigh that travels through his words. Jinsol's shoulders slump. "I tried to reason but you won't seem to budge. I suggest you find an extracurricular activity by the end of the week: if you leave it too late, there might not be any spaces left,"

With that, he plucks the latest edition of the school newspaper from beneath Jinsol's arms and begins to read, not sparing a glance up from the page after he first rests his eyes upon it. Jinsol wrestles the idea of insistence in her mind, but there's not much of a fight to put up: the way the man hums contendedly at the words, flicks the page and lets out a hearty chuckle at whatever the latest bold headline is suggests she's already overstepping her welcome. The last thing she'd want is an infuriated Mr. Seo selecting an activity for her; his own hobbies are the butt of everyone at the school's jokes - trampolining, water polo and yoga - and Jinsol would most definitely prefer her own extracurriculars not to be the newest double entendre of the entire student body.

Uttering hushed curses beneath her breath, Jinsol rises from her chair, the rickety legs scraping against the old oak floor with a shrill rasp. She earns a simple warning look from Mr. Seo as she turns to leave, clicking the door shut behind her with a gentleness that contradicts the flames raging inside of her.

Outside, her friend Yerim scrambles from her position against the wall, smiling sheepishly.

"Don't pretend you weren't listening," Jinsol snaps, not stopping for a moment as she stalks towards her locker. Her head is held high in the air and her face is unreadably blank and she doesn't say a word about her meeting, but Yerim sewed together the pockets of conversation she discerned through the wall skilfully enough to know the outcome.

She scurries to catch up with her friend, "Why don't you join the soccer club? Hyunjin could show you the ropes?" she offers, expression hopeful. She glances over towards Jinsol with a warm, bashful smile.

 _Playing a glorified game of fetch?_ Not her thing Jinsol scoffs - esoteric, yet plain enough.

"Fine! There's so much you could try! Uh..." Yerim hangs back for a little while, slowing down to allow some time to think. They eventually reach Jinsol's locker and she enters the code meticulously. Her fingers are tense and stiff and her eyes hold an icy coldness that seems as if it could cling to one's skin and then freeze along it, chilling a man to the bone. Beside her, Yerim balances on a locker, her fingers instinctively twirling her hair as she races to locate ideas.

"Dance? Basketball? Cross-country?"

It's a solid no to all of them and Jinsol makes sure to say so, hardly glancing over to Yerim as she hastily seizes the books she needs from her locker with a funny amount of venom. She doesn't notice the flyer draped over empty food packets and juiceboxes until Yerim snatches it from right under her nose.

" _Swimming_! It's fate!" she announces, vision soaking in the words before Jinsoul can grab it back and tear it in two, which she tries to do _very_ swiftly.

"No way. Like, triple no. A _thousand times_ no!" she cries, staring down at the poster incredulously. She lowers her voice to a whisper, " _I can't even swim_!"

 

Despite her protests, she takes the time to read it, her brows furrowed in concentration.

 

_SWIMMING TRYOUTS OPEN!_

_Come along from 5pm-6pm to try out. No prior experience needed. We require at least 12 members to qualify for the regional competition: there is no pressure to be good._

_Don't be scared to come along!_

_\- Kim Jungeun, captain_

 

Yerim watches her friend's face contort into an indistinguishable expression, peering warily over her shoulder.

 

"See, it says here that you don't even have to be good! They just need some players to qualify for the regional competition. It's perfect for you! You don't even have to try!"

 

Then, she quietens. "And it's not like your lack of swimming ability is some kind of secret too, you know,"

 

Briefly, Jinsol's eyes enlarge.

 

She spares one last look down at the paper and gradually splits it in half down the middle, holding firm eye contact with Yerim, whose face reddens and whose gaze grows increasingly more fiery as Jinsol's lips pull into a small, smug smirk. The poster ends up in two.

 

With one sudden cry of irritation, Yerim turns to go.

 

"Just swallow your ego and try it. I'm only trying to help!"

 

A wash of guilt immediately quells the fire that was previously ablaze in Jinsol's chest as she watches her friend flounce away. Everything seems to slow as she begins to realise her situation and it becomes progressively more difficult to resist the urge to bury her head in her hands. Clutching the torn pieces of the poster, she holds them up beside each other. Her expression is contemplative as she examines it with a fresh, restored mindset.

 

Maybe she'll go along. _For Yerim_ , of course, Jinsol tells herself. But she knows somewhere, deep down, it's more than that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is my first fic on here!!!!! pls tell me what u think! feedback is valuable and it takes less than a minute to type what u thought, so pls pls pls pls PLS let me know how u found this!!!!


End file.
